Born on this day – Paula Raymond:

Paula Raymond

Actress

November 23, 1924 – December 31, 2003

Born on this day – Geraldine Page:

Geraldine Page

Actress

November 22, 1924 – June 13, 1987

Born on this day – Gianni Ferrio:

Gianni Ferrio

Composer

Conductor

Music arranger

November 16, 1924 – October 21, 2013

Born on this day – Henry Langrehr:

Henry Langrehr

World War II Veteran

Writer

November 4, 1924 – April 23, 2025

Book:

Whatever It Took

An American Paratrooper's Extraordinary Memoir of Escape, Survival, and Heroism in the Last Days of World War II

by Henry Langrehr & Jim DeFelice.

Published by William Morrow.

Illustrated edition.

Published 2020.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0063027429

ISBN-13: 978-0063027428

Description:

"Extraordinary. ... Reveal[s] [Langrehr] as a person of great courage and strength who did whatever it took to survive." – Quad-City Times.

“Simply fascinating...reads with all the emotional impact of a finely crafted novel...an extraordinary and impressively presented military biography.” – Midwest Book Review.

Published to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, an unforgettable never-before-told first-person account of World War II: the true story of an American paratrooper who survived D-Day, was captured and imprisoned in a Nazi work camp, and made a daring escape to freedom.

Now at 95, one of the few living members of the Greatest Generation shares his experiences at last in one of the most remarkable World War II stories ever told. As the Allied Invasion of Normandy launched in the pre-dawn hours of June 6, 1944, Henry Langrehr, an American paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne, was among the thousands of Allies who parachuted into occupied France. Surviving heavy anti-aircraft fire, he crashed through the glass roof of a greenhouse in Sainte-Mère-Église. While many of the soldiers in his unit died, Henry and other surviving troops valiantly battled enemy tanks to a standstill. Then, on June 29th, Henry was captured by the Nazis. The next phase of his incredible journey was beginning.

Kept for a week in the outer ring of a death camp, Henry witnessed the Nazis’ unspeakable brutality – the so-called Final Solution, with people marched to their deaths, their bodies discarded like cords of wood. Transported to a work camp, he endured horrors of his own when he was forced to live in unbelievable squalor and labor in a coal mine with other POWs. Knowing they would be worked to death, he and a friend made a desperate escape. When a German soldier cornered them in a barn, the friend was fatally shot; Henry struggled with the soldier, killing him and taking his gun. Perilously traveling westward toward Allied controlled land on foot, Henry faced the great ethical and moral dilemmas of war firsthand, needing to do whatever it took to survive. Finally, after two weeks behind enemy lines, he found an American unit and was rescued.

Awaiting him at home was Arlene, who, like millions of other American women, went to work in factories and offices to build the armaments Henry and the Allies needed for victory. Whatever It Took is her story, too, bringing to life the hopes and fears of those on the homefront awaiting their loved ones to return.

A tale of heroism, hope, and survival featuring 30 photographs, Whatever It Took is a timely reminder of the human cost of freedom and a tribute to unbreakable human courage and spirit in the darkest of times.

Born on this day – Cleo Moore:

Cleo Moore

Actress

October 31, 1924 – October 25, 1973

Born on this day – Joyce Randolph:

Joyce Randolph

Actress

October 21, 1924 – January 13, 2024

Credits:

Everything's Jake (2000); Hi Honey, I'm Home (1991); Honeybloopers (1989); The Doctors and the Nurses (1964); The Jackie Gleason Show (1952–1957); The Honeymooners (1955–1956); Modern Romances (1955); The Mail Story (1954); The Jack Benny Program (1954); The Plainclothesman (1953–1954); Short Short Dramas (1953); The Ed Sullivan Show (1952); I Cover Times Square (1950); The Clock (1950); Famous Jury Trials (1950); Buck Rogers (1950); Rocky King, Detective (1950); Gander Sauce (1944).

Born on this day – Robert Webber:

Robert Webber

Actor

October 14, 1924 – May 19, 1989

Born on this day – Doris Grau:

Doris Grau

Actress

Script supervisor

October 12, 1924 – December 30, 1995

Credits:

A Rage to Live (1965); A Touch of Scandal (1984); All Is Forgiven (1986); Angel Dusted (1981); Another Man, Another Chance (1977); Babe (1995); Bare Essence (1983); Blue (1968); Brilliant But Cancelled (2002); Caveman (1981); CBS Summer Playhouse (1989); Cheers (1983–1987); Clay Pigeon (1971); Clue (1985); Coldblooded (1995); Coward of the County (1981); Daddy's Gone A-Hunting (1969); Frasier (1995); Goldie and the Boxer (1979); Good Advice (1993); Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980); Heroes (1977); How Do I Love Thee? (1970); Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues (1983); King Kong (1976); Making It (1971); Marie (1985); Miracles (1986); Missing Children: A Mother's Story (1982); Monty (1994); My Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Legend of Errol Flynn (1985); No Way Out (1987); Phenom (1994); Pieces of Dreams (1970); Point Blank (1967); Quarterback Princess (1983); Rhinoceros (1974); Ruthless People (1986); Seinfeld (1989); Sibs (1991); Sleeper (1973); Snowball Express (1972); Tarawa Beachhead (1958); The Blue and the Gray (1982); The Champ (1979); The Critic (1994–1995); The Distinguished Gentleman (1992); The Forgotten Man (1971); The Frisco Kid (1979); The George Carlin Show (1994); The Hunter (1980); The Klansman (1974); The Last Day (1975); The Million Dollar Duck (1971); The North Avenue Irregulars (1979); The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper (1981); The Ransom (1977); The Shadow Riders (1982); The Simpsons (1991–1997); The Stranger Who Looks Like Me (1974); The Tracey Ullman Show (1987–1990); The White Shadow (1978); They Came to Cordura (1959); You Take the Kids (1991).

Born on this day – Ed Wood:

Ed Wood

Director

Actor

Writer

October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978

Born on this day – Barbara Kelly:

Barbara Kelly

Actress

Writer

Producer

October 5, 1924 – January 15, 2007

Credits:

A Tale of Five Women (1951); Alan Melville Takes You from A-Z (1959); Alice Through the Looking Box (1960); Alien Attack (1976); An Evening at Home with Bernard Braden and Barbara Kelly (1951); Armchair Theatre (1957); B and B (1968); Barbara with Braden (1953); BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1951); Blankety Blank (1979–1980); Call My Bluff (1969–1970); Carissima (1950); Castle in the Air (1952); Celebrity Squares (1976); Comedy Playhouse (1968); Criss Cross Quiz (1957–1967); Cynthia Payne's House of Cyn (1995); Dateline Britain (1959); Dee Time (1969); Give Us a Clue (1980); Glad Tidings! (1953); H.M. Tennent Globe Theatre (1956); Hawaii Five-O (1978–1980); ITV Play of the Week (1956–1959); ITV Television Playhouse (1955–1956); Jet Storm (1959); Jubilee Dinner of the Concert Artistes' Association (1957); Kaleidoscope (1950); Kelly's Eye (1957); Let Him Have It (1991); Love in Pawn (1953); Lust of a Eunuch (1977); Magnum, P.I. (1981); New Faces (1974); Night of One Hundred Stars (1980); No Hiding Place (1962); Not a Word (1970); Parkinson (1975 / 1978); Password (1973–1974); Pat Boone in Hollywood (1967); Pearl (1978); Punchlines (1983); Read All About It (1977); Russell Harty Plus (1972); Shadow of the Tree (1951); Space: 1999 (1975–1976); Sunday Story (1961–1967); Television: The Magic Rectangle - An Anatomy of the TV Personality (1986); The Biz Quiz (1966); The Desert Hawk (1950); The Eamonn Andrews Show (1965–1967); The Flying Fontaines (1959); The Joey Bishop Show (1968); The Long Christmas Dinner (1949); The Male Animal (1956); The Paul Daniels Magic Show (1982); The Pyramid Game (1982); The Rolling Stones (1960); The Sweepstakes Game (1976); The Texan (1960); This Is Your Life (1973–1991); Those Wonderful TV Times (1977); Treasure on Pelican (1951); Tribute to Trevor Howard (1986); Variety Club of Great Britain Awards for 1956 (1957); We Beg to Differ (1951); What's My Line? (1951–1984); Where in the World? (1973); Wogan (1986–1987).

Born on this day – Marina Berti:

Marina Berti

Actress

September 29, 1924 – October 29, 2002

Born on this day – Gail Russell:

Gail Russell

Actress

September 21, 1924 – August 26, 1961

Born on this day – Collin Wilcox:

Collin Wilcox

Writer

September 21, 1924 – July 12, 1996

Credits:

Books:

A Death Before Dying (1990); Aftershock (1975); Bernhardt's Edge (1988); Calculated Risk (1995); Dark House, Dark Road (1982); Dead Aim (1971); Dead Center (1992); Doctor, Lawyer.... (1976); Except for the Bones (1991); Find Her a Grave (1993); Full Circle (1994); Hiding Place (1973); Hire a Hangman (1991); Long Way Down (1975); Mankiller (1980); McCloud (1973); Night Games (1986); Power Plays (1979); Silent Witness (1990); Spellbinder (1981); Stalking Horse (1982); Swallow's Fall (1987); Switchback (1993); The Black Door (1967); The Disappearance (1970); The Faceless Man (1975); The Lonely Hunter (1969); The New Mexico Connection (1974); The Pariah (1988); The Third Figure (1967); The Third Victim (1977); The Watcher (1978); Twospot (1978); Victims (1985).

Born on this day – Lauren Bacall:

Lauren Bacall

Actress

September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014

Born on this day – Scott Brady:

Scott Brady

Actor

September 13, 1924 – April 16, 1985

Born on this day – Sylvia Miles:

Sylvia Miles

Actress

September 9, 1924 – June 12, 2019

Born on this day – Jane Greer:

Jane Greer

Actress

September 9, 1924 – August 24, 2001

Born on this day – Leonard Rosenman:

Leonard Rosenman

Composer

Musician

September 7, 1924 – March 4, 2008

Born on this day – Joan Aiken:

Joan Aiken

Writer

September 4, 1924 – January 4, 2004

Credits:

Books:

65 Great Spine Chillers (1982); A Book of Contemporary Nightmares (1977); A Bundle of Nerves (1976); A Cat of Artistic Sensibilities (2021); A Century of Children's Ghost Stories (1996); A Children's Literary Treasury (2022); A Cluster of Separate Sparks / aka The Butterfly Picnic (1972); A Creepy Company (1993); A Fit of Shivers (1990); A Foot in the Grave (1989); A Ghostly Gallery (2023); A Goose on Your Grave (1987); A Handful of Gold (1995); A Harp of Fishbones (1972); A Necklace of Raindrops (1968); A Small Pinch of Weather (1969); A Touch of Chill (1979); A Whisper in the Night (1981); All and More / aka All You've Ever Wanted (1953); All But a Few (1974); Arabel and Mortimer Stories (2019); Arabel's Raven (1972); Armitage, Armitage Fly Away Home (1968); Bestiary! (1985); Black Hearts in Battersea (1964); Blackground (1989); Bone and Dream (2002); Bridle the Wind (1983); Castle Barebane (1976); Chilling Christmas Tales (1992); Christmas Forever (1993); Cold Shoulder Road (1995); Come Flee with Me (1978); Conrad Aiken, Our Father (1989); Dancing with the Dark (1997); Dangerous Games (1999); Dark Interval / aka Hate Begins at Home (1967); Dead Man's Lane (1996); Deception / aka If I Were You (1987); Dido and Pa (1986); Died on a Rainy Sunday (1972); Drabble II - Double Century (1990); Eliza's Daughter (1994); Ellery Queen's Prime Crimes (1984); Emma Watson (1996); Escaped Black Mamba (1973); Fantastic Fables (2023); Fantasy Stories (1994); Fantasy Stories (1996); Fog Hounds, Wind Cat, Sea Mice (1984); Foul Matter (1983); Ghostly Beasts (2002); Ghostly Haunts (1994); Ghosts That Haunt You (1980); Girl's Choice (1969); Give Yourself a Fright (1989); Go Saddle the Sea (1977); Gothic (2004); Haunting Christmas Tales (1991); Helena and the Wild Man (2000); Horror Stories (1988); In Thunder's Pocket (2001); Is / aka Is Underground (1992); ise Girl (2000); Jane Fairfax (1990); Lady Catherine's Necklace (2000); Last Movement (1977); Mansfield Revisited (1984); Mice and Mendelson (1978); Midnight Is a Place (1974); Midwinter Nightingale (2003); Moon Cake (1998); More Arabel and Mortimer (2019); More Than You Bargained for (1955); Morningquest (1992); Mortimer and Arabel (1992); Mortimer and the Sword Excalibur (1979); Mortimer Says Nothing (1985); Mortimer's Bread Bin / aka The Bread Bin (1974); Mortimer's Cross (1983); Mortimer's Mine (1995); Mortimer's Pocket (1994); Mortimer's Portrait on Glass (1982); Mortimer's Tie (1976); Mystery Stories (1996); Mystifying (2008); New Terrors 1 (1980); New Terrors Omnibus (1985); Night Fall (1969); Nightbirds on Nantucket (1966); Nightshade (2000); Not What You Expected (1974); Over the Rainbow (1983); Past Eight O'Clock (1986); Psychos (2012); Return to Harken House / aka Voices (1988); Scaremongers (1998); Scary! (1998); Secret City (1997); Serve Me Stefan (2000); Shadows and Moonshine (1990); Shivers for Christmas (1995); Silent Night (2002); Silver Jackanory (1991); Simply the Best (1996); Siren Stories (2023); Skin of the Soul (1990); Smoke from Cromwell's Time (1970); Snow Horse (2004); Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (2002); Song of Mat and Ben (2000); Spellbound (2007); Strangeness (1977); Street (1978); Tale of a One-Way Street (1978); The 10th Pan Book of Horror Stories (1969); The 1st Pan Book of Horror Stories (1959); The 2nd Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories (1967); The Angel Inn (1976); The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 3 (2009); The Cockatrice Boys (1996); The Crystal Crow (1967); The Cuckoo Tree (1971); The Dark Side (2007); The Embroidered Sunset (1970); The Erl King's Daughter (1988); The Faithless Lollybird (1977); The Far Forests (1977); The Fifth Armada Ghost Book (1973); The Fifth Ghost Book (1969); The Five-Minute Marriage (1977); The Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories (1966); The Fortune Hunters (1965); The Ghost's Companion (1975); The Gift Giving (2016); The Girl From Paris / aka The Young Lady from Paris (1982); The Green Flash (1971); The Haunting of Lamb House (1987); The Jewel Seed (1997); The Kingdom and the Cave (1960); The Kingdom Under the Sea (1971); The Kingfisher Treasury of Five-Minute Stories (2004); The Kitchen Warriors (1983); The Last Slice of the Rainbow (1985); The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 23 (2012); The Mammoth Book of Fairy Tales (1997); The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories (2000); The Mammoth Book of Historical Detectives (1995); The Midnight Moropus (1993); The Monkey's Wedding (2011); The Mooncusser's Daughter (1974); The Moon's Revenge (1987); The Mystery of Mr Jones's Disappearing Taxi (1982); The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales (1975); The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories (1984); The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women (1995); The People in the Castle (2016); The Puffin Book of Stories for Eight-year-olds (1996); The Random House Book of Fantasy Stories (1997); The Random House Book of Ghost Stories (1991); The Scream (2002); The Serial Garden (2008); The Shadow Guests (1980); The Shoemaker's Boy (1991); The Silence of Herondale (1964); The Sixth Ghost Book: Book 2 (1970); The Skin Spinners (poems) (1976); The Smile of the Stranger (1977); The Spiral Stair (1979); The Stolen Lake (1981); The Teeth of the Gale / aka In the Teeth of the Gale (1988); The Tenth Ghost Book (1974); The Tinker's Curse (1978); The Way to Write for Children (1981); The Weeping Ash / aka The Lightning Tree (1980); The Whispering Mountain (1968); The Windscreen Weepers (1969); The Winter Sleepwalker (1991); The Witch of Clatteringshaws (2005); The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1962); The Wooden Dragon (2004); The Writer's Guide to Fantasy Literature (2002); The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2012 (2012); The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Third Annual Collection (1990); The Year's Best Fantasy Second Annual Collection (1989); The Youngest Miss Ward (1998); Triangles (1973); Trouble with Product X / aka Beware of the Bouquet (1966); Up the Chimney Down (1984); Voices in an Empty House (1975); Weather Witches and Wise Women (2023); Winterthing (1972).

Movies and television:

Black Hearts in Battersea (1995–1996); Jackanory (1968–1992); Jackanory Playhouse (1977–1979); Joan Aiken (1969); L'ultima fetta di arcobaleno (2023); Midnight Is a Place (1977–1978); Mort un dimanche de pluie (1986); Mortimer & Arabel (1993–1994); Night Gallery / Segment: Marmalade Wine (1971); Rainy Story (1988); Read All About It (1974); Shadows (1976–1978); Television Theater (1998); The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1989).

Born on this day – Peggy Ryan:

Peggy Ryan

Dancer

Actress

August 28, 1924 – October 30, 2004

Credits:

A Night at the Troc (1939); All Ashore (1953); All Star Revue (1951–1952); Babes on Swing Street (1944); Billy Rose's Casa Mañana Revue (1938); Bowery to Broadway (1944); Chip Off the Old Block (1944); Follow the Boys (1944); Fun on the Run (1949); Get Hep to Love (1942); Girls' Town (1942); Give Out, Sisters (1942); Hawaii Five-O (1968–1976); Here Come the Co-eds (1945); Here's Hollywood (1961); Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon (1985); Just Off Broadway (1955); Men in Her Diary (1945); Miss Annie Rooney (1942); Mister Big (1943); On Stage Everybody (1945); Oysters and Muscles (1948); Patrick the Great (1944); Pleasure Palace (1980); Private Buckaroo (1942); Sailor's Lady (1940); Shamrock Hill (1949); She Married a Cop (1939); ShirleyMania (2002); Simon & Simon (1983); Songs for Sale (1952); Stage Show (1954); Star of the Family (1951); That's the Spirit (1945); The Betty White Show (1954); The Eyes Have It (1952); The Flying Irishman (1939); The George Jessel Show (1954); The Grapes of Wrath (1940); The Ken Murray Show (1950); The Merry Monahans (1944); The Mickey Mouse Club (1956); The Milton Berle Show (1949–1952); The Saturday Night Revue (1954); The Saturday Night Revue with Jack Carter (1950); The Spike Jones Show (1954); The Tonight Show (1955–1956); The Wedding of Jack and Jill (1930); The Women Men Marry (1937); There's a Girl in My Heart (1949); This Is Show Business (1956); This Is the Life (1944); Top Man (1943); Top of the Town (1937); Universal Musical Short 3655: Singin' and Swingin' (1950); Val Parnell's Startime (1956); Varsity Vanities (1940); What's Cookin' (1942); When Johnny Comes Marching Home (1942).